Indian corn

American  

noun

1. corn.

2. any primitive corn with variegated kernels, often used for decorative purposes.

3. any coarse variety of corn grown for fodder.

---

Indian corn British  

noun

1. another name for maize

---

Etymology

Origin of Indian corn

An Americanism dating back to 1610–20

Example Sentences

I have never seen an ear of corn so long or handsome, not jeweled like Indian corn, but elegant and talismanic.

From Washington Post • Nov. 25, 2019

Unwitting agents of the Columbian exchange, husbands planted English crops like wheat, rye, oats, and peas, as well as Indian corn and pumpkins, and carefully tended horses, cows, and pigs.

From Textbooks • Jan. 18, 2018

Indian corn, which features a brown base flavored with cocoa, has been sold since the 1950s.

From Slate • Oct. 30, 2014

Only the skirt survives of the sumptuous wedding gown, which was described by the Lady's Pictorial as "'the colour like the tassel of Indian corn, the silk shimmering bright like the silk on the cocoon".

From The Guardian • Apr. 29, 2013

In the dust of the barn lot Papa had come across an ear of Indian corn.

From "Secrets at Sea" by Richard Peck